Scott Berry

Music Downloads: You Can't Regulate One Industry and Leave Another Alone

I'm with Fred here. Content providers can solve their problems by providing what their customers want, instead of forcing them to buy things they don't. (This applies to supplying singles vs. albums, and single episodes of TV shows vs. paying $50 or more to get a "season".)

It's unfortunate that it's taking piracy to get media firms to see that truth. Most other industries figure that out on their own via competition (and let's face it, piracy is just a form of competition here.)

As for the iTune burn/rip two-step, yes it can be done but it's a huge pain. Instead of a choice between restricted transfer and a major hassle, how about just selling the music without either?

Will TiVo Become Software Inside Your TV?

I beg to differ. There are a few models (LG did this as far back as 05 or 06, I think) with Hard Drive but I don't see it as a trend that consumers will ever adopt. Can you point to many new models that are actually getting sales traction?

Mfrs will price their sets out of the market unless they all conspire to have hard drives. Similar to built-in DVD and VHS players--a niche only. People won't want to repair/replace TV if disc drive fails. Just can't see it.

Will TiVo Become Software Inside Your TV?

While it's true TiVo is going increasingly to an IP licensing business model, they still are working to differentiate their boxes. Furthermore, until they start putting disc drives inside TVs (and I see no reason why mfrs would drive up their prices by doing so), separate DVRs aren't going away.

Incorporating a cable box (tuning, decoding) is a different prospect than incorporating a DVR.

Sony Admits It Made the PS3 Too Expensive

These guys never read "The Innovator's Dilemma". They (and MSFT) are listening to the shrinking high end of the market, with the latest bleeding edge tech/features. Nintendo came out with a product more for the lower end, with features that are "just good enough" at significantly lower cost. Brilliant move for Nintendo. For Sony, not so much.